Is it good to make it look easy?

So, after my class this morning I asked my students how things were feeling. This is the fifth of a six-session beginner class. Or, to be exact...7.5 hours of classroom time and for the majority of these students this was this first and only class. When teaching beginners I'm always torn between making things too simplified or overwhelming them. Over the years, I've settled into my own little groove on this. All I want is for them to walk away with a better appreciation of their own female form and the basics of good technique. After they leave my class, I would hope they continue to pursue classes...and I can't police everything they do, but at least I showed them the basics and made them sweat a little in the process.

So today, one of them said everything still feels awkward, and the most frustrating part is watching me do the movement, because she said I make it look so easy. I gave her my party line on that...I've been doing this for more than a decade now...and with work and practice it will become easy for her as well.

However, I've been thinking all day that maybe it isn't good to tell students it will get easier with time. Sure, your body acclimates, adjusts and sometimes even embraces the movement, but I'm not sure it becomes easy. It just becomes familiar.

For me, I always work harder teaching the class than the students do because I want to make sure every movement is precise and 'text-book' perfect. So, while they are trying to learn one perfect hip drop I'm trying to ensure every hip drop of mine is good, solid and certainly worthy of watching. I may not grimace or groan (or even sweat too much) during certain moves but they never feel "easy" because I spend so much time thinking about every part of what I'm teaching.

So, thinking about my student's comment I wonder how much I should share with the class. Do I tell them it never gets that easy and it's a lot of work, and then possibly scare them off before they are suitably hooked on this dance form? Or, do I just take the compliment and keep on going...I'm thinking I probably fall somewhere in the middle depending upon my mood that day. And today, after class (and after watching a great show with Suhaila), I think I'm feeling that the moves don't get easier...you just appreciate it when dancers make them look effortless.

Is it worth the effort?

I often ask the question, "Is it worth the effort?", and by effort I mean the prepping, the traveling to and from a show, the changing from mere mortal to belly dancer and the dolling up we all do in order to dance for 5-10 minutes? I have to admit there are some days when it just seems like too much work, but the truth is...I honestly do think those few minutes are worth every bit of effort, I just have to remind myself of that fact from time to time.

Case in point. Mirage was asked to come dance at a gig through University of Texas called Act Local, Think Global tonight. They asked us to dance for 10 minutes. Four of us (myself, Jeanette, Dana and Ginger) were available and so we said sure...why not...it's a way to get our name out and also help out UT's Informal Class program who so graciously gives us a performance venue for free. The original information and instructions were simple, show up at 6:30 in costume ready to dance. We decided on doing two numbers back to back, and I had already prepped by putting them on one CD. We would dance around the audience, do our opener number, remove zils (while noodling on stage), do our choreography and noodle off. (I'll define noodle in another post...)

However, the event coordinator emailed me early today asking if we could dance longer...which really isn't a problem, however she just couldn't define "longer" which meant I was stuck trying to figure out what we could add (is it 5 minutes or 10?), who would dance, what order...how should we transition and hmmm....I guess I need to burn another CD. So, all day long I pondered the possibilities (while listening to whatever music I had on hand in the office) and the other dancers and I emailed back and forth with suggestions. But it was all for naught, at the end of the day...nothing changed, and we were still on for the original 10 minutes.

Next I had to leave work (earlier than I had originally planned), find a parking spot, lug my bag in, and then work on transforming (in a short time) from Chris the busy professional to Najla the dancer (sometimes the distance between the two is long...but thankfully not tonight). We checked out the stage (which incidentally was a 360 degree view...no front or back) and talked through some changes (dancing back to back, altering our ending poses, etc.) to make sure we were ready.

When it was finally our time to dance, all of the tedium that goes with prepping for performances just melted away (at least for me), and once I heard the music start (thankfully it was pretty loud) and we started zilling (and zaghareeting...) the energy was contagious. Then, off we went twirling, spinning, shimmying and hip-dropping into the crowd. The cool thing is most of them probably hadn't seen belly dancers up close and personal. So, with a crowd of about 200-300 people, we certainly were the center of attention. And...boy oh boy...there were more cameras snapping away when we danced that Clinton and Obama's press campaigns combined. All I hope is that they get a pretty picture of me...I'm always captured in photos in really odd poses or with strange expressions (which by the way don't seem apparent if you watch my videos...).

And there we were, with the rush of the dancing, the pleasure and enjoyment of the faces of the crowds, and the glee of dancing with people you really like! So, for the record if you wonder whether or not all the work and effort are worth it...especially if you only get to dance for 5-10 minutes, I'd say yes, yes, yes!!!!

Creativity continued...

Okay, so this blogging thing is actually starting to groove for me a little more. Last night I managed to send out two (yeah) posts within a short period of time. In just a little over six weeks I have now surpassed my total posts for 2007. I admit, it wasn’t a tough record to beat but you have to find the challenge, the kudos and the excitement where you can. So, imagine my surprise to find out that someone had read my recent posts, and felt obliged to comment back and add their whole take on the creative process (thanks Debra). So, here are just a few things that now come to mind after reading her notes…

It is one thing to be creative and give into that process. However for me, it takes on a different meaning and purpose when you are trying to be creative in a set time, for a set format where it’s not a matter of if your work will be displayed publicly but rather when. There is also a responsibility related to those who must end up dancing and performing your work (for example forcing people to hop when they don’t like to…). And now, with nine of us in the troupe I’m having difficulty finding a balance between just getting a basic, sound choreography complete that everyone can remember and skillfully dance and my desire to add the unpredictable, the more organic, less patterned staging that I dearly love in the dance. So, that’s my dilemma in a nut shell.

But, I’ll figure it out; my short term solution is to wait one week before teaching anything. Now that the song is decided (for me at least), I can let it filter in and out of my brain for a few days…I’m humming it at work and sneaking little practices moves in the bathroom at work, and I’ll be dancing it in my car numerous times.
After a few days, I’m sure it will all percolate into something good, solid and exciting…and since I have all the faith in the world creatively with my fellow dancers, we will make it work, regardless.

My other final note…when I mentioned the great deal on shoes, I wasn’t talking cheap Payless styles…these were lovely fashions, and yes I’m on my second pair (you can't just buy them and not wear them immediately) today and yes…my feet have been hurting, but it’s such a good hurt ;-)

Bare feet may be best.

Okay, after trying on several pairs of shoes I remembered that I do my best thinking barefoot (and actually bra-less but that's another story). I must have been distracted by my recent shoe purchase over the weekend where I bagged not one, or two...but three new pair of heels for a low, low price of $20. (Yeah, let that settle in ladies). It was meant to be, they were my size, they were on sale, and I had a coupon...I think women don't really find their shoes...the shoes find them. **See, and I'm distracted once again, argh!**

The whole point of this second post (in such a short time if you didn't notice) was to talk about finding inspiration to not only dance, but choreograph a dance for others. And, although I can do it under pressure if needed, I prefer for the music to speak to me. Some of my favorite choreographies started out with one musical phrase, less than 8 counts of music...something that I couldn't let go of and wanted to expand it to an entire piece. Really, it's like picking out your outfit based on your shoes first (god, I'm channeling Sex in the City now) or picking a vacation destination because of something you bought...but in the case of dance, it can work, and work well.

I really believe you cannot dance to something you don't feel inspired by, and just picking a number because it is a certain time frame, or it meets the style criteria you're seeking is just a recipe for disaster. It sets up the dancer to get bored quickly, become disengaged and just go through the motions. We may not want to admit it, but we've all been there at one time or another, and it just plain sucks, for us and even the audience. They may politely tell you the dancing was lovely, or that you looked pretty...but even when we can't put our finger on what we didn't like about a dance, we walk away a little hungry...and wanting more of something we may not be able to name.

I also think there is a formula to good choreography. You need music that has changes, ups, downs, fast and slow to keep people interested. You need to change the dynamic of the dancers and sometimes move with the rhythm and occasionally against it. I also love the idea of juxtaposing crisp sharp, traditional movements with some elements of randomness, chaos and ambiguity. That's the hardest part of all since it requires all the dancers in the troupe to let you of their need to control each and every movement and surrended to the notion that the choreography will never be exactly the same each time.

So, I feel this enormous pressure to come up with great choregraphies that everyone will love and passionately perform, and have all of my required elements from above. I want the drama, the excitement and the sense that you can't predict what we'll do next. I want the audience to sit on the edge of their seats and think, "Wow, I didn't know belly dance was like this!". Hence the waffling between music and ideas. But, once I settled out of my shoes, and let my feet uncurl (we are talking heels here) on the bare floor...I'm feeling more inspired and motivated.

The piece of music that I came back to is oddly enough one that I started thinking about last year. I literally heard it one time and could envision an entire number off of a few notes, and without sounding too goofy...it literally moved me. Really, I'm not joking here. I felt a wave of emotion and feeling sweep through body, my breathing deepened and relaxed and I practically melted into a puddle. The song is called Yearning, and boy oh boy...I yearned! I've danced to it twice in solo performances and although I think I did a good job, I didn't have it dialed in...and I walked away feeling as if I let the music down. Which is why I've been hesitant to pick this piece for a choreography...it makes me wonder if I'm just better at putting together numbers for everyone else versus dancing them myself. So, stay tuned and I'll try to keep you posted on how this number goes for us!